Groff
A Pennsylvania-German surname usually tied to German Graf, meaning a count or lord, with spelling shaped by English and dialect pronunciation.
The #3,599 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 31,221 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Groff is generally treated as a variant spelling of German Graf, a word meaning 'count' or 'earl' and, by extension, a person connected with a noble household or office. In Pennsylvania German speech, the vowel could be heard and written as 'o' rather than the standard German 'a,' which helped produce forms like Groff, Groft, and Graff. The surname is therefore best understood as a dialectal spelling variant rather than a wholly separate name.
History
The name is especially associated with Pennsylvania German communities, where English spelling habits often fixed several variants of the same German surname. Early writers on Pennsylvania surnames explicitly noted Groff as a form of Graf. In modern U.S. records it remains a fairly uncommon surname, concentrated in descendants of German-speaking immigrant families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A single Pennsylvania German original could show up in several English spellings, and Groff is one of the best-known examples of that process.
From the historical record
“71 Graff. Grcef, a grave. A ditch ; a moat ; a fosse. Groff, of like derivation. Graham. Grceg, gray ; ham, home. A weather-beaten home. Gramm, most probably a corruption of the same.”
— Family Names from the Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and Scotch